New Delhi: A prominent engineering institute in Roorkee in UP has claimed to have developed a new technology for making light weight cylinders that store CNG at a low pressure to prevent accidents and make roads safer.

The new system, developed in collaboration with Russians, would also save the country valuable foreign exchange as currently the natural gas is compressed into CNG (compressed natural gas) at gas stations using imported compressors which cost about Rs five crore, Dr K S Jagadeesh, Director of the College of Engineering Roorkee, said.

A few Indian companies have come up with compressors at a cost of about Rs 25-30 lakh each that compress the natural gas at a lower pressure of 100 bar, against 200 bar now, Jagdeesh said. The new system would allow use of gas at a lower pressure, making utilisation of indigenous compressors, he said.

"The development is part of the Integrated Long Term Programme of Cooperation in Science and Technology (ILTP) between India and Russia which began in 1987," he said. From the Russian side, the partner was the Central Research Institute for Special Machinery (TSNIISM).

There have been fire accidents because of CNG leak and cylinder bursts in buses as in the current CNG system gas is compressed at a high pressure. "It is like sitting on a bomb," he said.

"The new system will be safe as new cylinders are less heavy and thus can be fitted on top. Even if there is a leak, the gas would merge with the environment. Besides, cylinders are constructed without any welding, making it safe to store gas," he said.